A gas turbine engine generally includes a fan and a core arranged in flow communication with one another. The core of the gas turbine engine generally includes, in serial flow order, a compressor section, a combustion section, a turbine section, and an exhaust section. At least certain gas turbine engines further include a nacelle extending around and surrounding at least a portion of the fan and the core. The nacelle may be supported by, and mechanically coupled to, the core and/or fan by a plurality of struts. For gas turbine engines including a single stage fan, the struts are positioned in relatively close proximity to the fan blades, such that they may act as outlet guide vanes for the fan.
For gas turbine engines operating at supersonic flight speeds, i.e., flight speeds greater than Mach 1, the fan typically includes a plurality of fan stages to define a relatively high overall fan pressure ratio. However, these gas turbine engines may generate a relatively large amount of acoustic disturbance (i.e., noise) when operating at supersonic flight speeds. While this is generally acceptable for military applications, this acoustic disturbance may limit the gas turbine engine's use for commercial applications given noise limit restrictions for commercial aircraft over land.
Accordingly, a gas turbine engine capable of operating at supersonic flight speeds while generating less acoustic disturbance during operation would be useful.